Trump Finally Grants Shipping Waiver For Puerto Rico

"[They are] always trying to find a way to blame the president for things, when they would do much better to figure out how to help", Conway told Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program.

Earlier in the day, Trump tweeted that "food and water [were] on site".

Those on the ground say displaced people are gathering in droves around available cell towers, their phones held to the sky, hoping for a few bars of service.

Storms knocked out about 80 percent of Puerto Rico's power transmission lines, leaving most of the island dark.

But he points out that Elaine Duke is temporarily in the job, "and she's working very hard". "I know it is really a good news story in terms of our ability to reach people and the limited number of deaths that have taken place in such a devastating hurricane".

"You have all the armchair quarterbacks shouting out a lot of criticism", Fugate said. But as he considers such a decision - and charts a course to help make Puerto Rico Great Again - the president should keep its people first.

We continue to recover from the impact of Hurricane Maria, but it's been a slower process than we would like due to continued widespread power outages and communication issues across the Island. Puerto Rico's governor, Ricardo Rosselló, tweeted that he had petitioned the White House Wednesday night for a temporary waiver. And House Speaker Paul Ryan said the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) disaster relief account will get a $6.7-billion (U.S.) boost by the end of the week.